Übernahme von Activision Blizzard King durch Microsoft

[Benwick]

vor 30 Minuten schrieb consoleplayer:

 

 

Chile? Ja dann fehlen noch Liechtenstein, Vatikanstaat, Grönland, die Osterinseln und Antigua. 
Mal im Ernst: Wie viele und welche Länder müssen denn da alle befragt werden?

[consoleplayer]

vor 11 Minuten schrieb Benwick:

Chile? Ja dann fehlen noch Liechtenstein, Vatikanstaat, Grönland, die Osterinseln und Antigua. 
Mal im Ernst: Wie viele und welche Länder müssen denn da alle befragt werden?

Ich habe mal etwas von 17 gelesen. 😅

[consoleplayer]

Wäre ein weiter Weg bis zum Monopol. 😅

 

[callmesnake]

 

[Waltero_PES]

Ich zitiere mal aus der Argumentation der FTC bzgl. der Abgrenzung des Konsolenmarktes (gekürzt):

Consoles
26. For gamers who play games on gaming consoles today, the most popular options, Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation, and Nintendo’s Switch, come from the same trio of companies that have been manufacturing consoles for decades with no meaningful new competition.

…
28. Of these three console makers, PlayStation and Xbox compete in a high-performance segment that includes only the most technologically advanced and capable consoles… Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles are the only high-performance consoles available today, and are considered to be in the ninth generation of gaming consoles. In contrast, Nintendo’s most recent console—the Nintendo Switch—is not a ninth-generation gaming console. The Nintendo Switch was released in 2017, in the latter half of the eighth generation of gaming consoles, which had begun in approximately 2013. The Nintendo Switch (“Switch”) also has lower computational performance, more in line with Microsoft’s and Sony’s eighth generation consoles.
29. The Xbox Series X|S are two ninth-generation Xbox consoles offered by Microsoft…
30. Microsoft closely tracks the performance of its Xbox consoles relative to Sony’s PlayStation consoles...
31. Xbox Series X|S consoles have been a commercial success. In a July 26, 2022 earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the company “ha[d] been the market leader in North America for three quarters in a row among next gen consoles.”
32. The Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles are from a broad consumer perspective, in a number of technical specifications, including offering similar graphics, user experiences, and hardware features. In addition, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are sold at the same price, while the Series S offers lower performance and is sold at a lower price.
33. Other consoles lack the high performance of the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles. For example, the Nintendo Switch, which is designed to allow portable, handheld use, necessarily sacrifices computing power, which leaves it unable to play certain games that require more advanced graphic processing. Retailing at $299.99, the Nintendo Switch is also less expensive than the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles, both priced at $499.99. While the Xbox Series S had the same retail price at launch as the Nintendo Switch, the graphical and processing capabilities of the Series S are much more aligned with the Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles. The Xbox Series S enables gamers to play the same video games as the Xbox Series X, both of which offer more graphically advanced gameplay than on the Nintendo Switch.

 

Die Argumentation dürfte für jeden Gamer nachvollziehbar sein. Derek Strickland argumentiert dagegen nicht inhaltlich, sondern rein quantitativ („Nintendo hat so einen großen Anteil, den man berücksichtigen muss“). Überzeugend ist seine Argumentation nicht. Allerdings bin ich mir auch nicht sicher, ob die Argumentation der FTC einer gerichtlichen Überprüfung standhält. Da muss die FTC in jedem Fall ordentlich nachlegen. Sofern es überhaupt soweit kommt.

Bearbeitet 30. Dezember 2022 von Waltero_PES
redaktionell

[consoleplayer]

 

 

[consoleplayer]

 

[Teilzeitzocker83]

vor einer Stunde schrieb Waltero_PES:

Die Argumentation dürfte für jeden Gamer nachvollziehbar sein. Derek Strickland argumentiert dagegen nicht inhaltlich, sondern rein quantitativ („Nintendo hat so einen großen Anteil, den man berücksichtigen muss“). Überzeugend ist seine Argumentation nicht.

Die Argumentation der FTC ist auch nicht nachvollziehbar. Was ist, wenn Nintendo plötzlich seine „9.“ Konsole ankündigt mit mehr Performance als die Nintendo Switch? Zieht die FTC ihre Argumentation dann zurück, weil Nintendo dann plötzlich (technisch) doch wieder eine Rolle spielt für die FTC? Die Argumentation der FTC ist nicht inhaltlich(kundenorientiert) sondern rein technisch. Und mit meinem Beispiel kannst du deren Argumentation ja auf den Rücken schmeißen wir eine Schildkröte.

Der Videospielmarkt hat einen begrenzten Kundenstamm und der wird aufgeteilt unter drei Anbietern. Und einer der Anbieter ist technisch deutlich hinter den anderen beiden und hat trotzdem den gleichen oder sogar mehr Marktanteil als einer der technisch überlegenen. Von daher kann man bezüglich Kundenorientierung unf Marktaufteilung nur bedingt mit technischer Performance argumentieren.

[Waltero_PES]

vor 54 Minuten schrieb Teilzeitzocker83:

Die Argumentation der FTC ist nicht inhaltlich(kundenorientiert) sondern rein technisch.

Die technische Argumentation selbst ist ja erst einmal nachvollziehbar. In dem Part geht es nur um Konsolen. Später wird der relevante Markt abgegrenzt:

High-Performance Consoles are a Relevant Product Market
63. High-Performance Consoles are a Relevant Market for evaluating the likely competitive effects of the Proposed Acquisition.
64. The only High-Performance Consoles offered for sale today are the most recent generation of Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation consoles—the Xbox Series X|S and the PS5. The Xbox Series X|S and PS5 are therefore included within the Relevant Market.
65. The third major gaming console available today, the Nintendo Switch, is highly differentiated from the Xbox and PlayStation consoles in significant ways. The Nintendo Switch, therefore, is not included in the Relevant Market.

66. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S and Sony’s PS5 consoles are characterized by greater computational power, different content portfolios, different form factors and technical specifications, generally higher prices, and different release cadences than the Nintendo Switch and other handheld consoles.
a. Superior computational power enables faster processing that shapes the kind of content that can run on High-Performance Consoles, enabling higher resolution, more realistic graphics, and cutting-edge performance. Both Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles have similar hardware, and Microsoft and Sony compete closely on hardware innovation, including over graphics and performance. Conversely, Nintendo pursues a different strategy of integrating its lower performance, portable hardware with its own distinctive first-party games to appeal to player nostalgia for Nintendo’s unique gaming experience over high resolution, life-like graphics, and performance speed. While Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S and Sony’s PS5 consoles incorporate semi-custom systems-on-a-chip (“SoC”) designed by AMD, Nintendo’s Switch runs on a non-AMD SoC that is more closely related to a mobile device processor found in higher-end mobile phones and tablets.
b. Microsoft and Sony compete closely for high-quality, resource-intensive AAA console games. They compete over genre coverage, portfolio size and quality, and multiplayer game availability, and they routinely benchmark their
against each other. A substantial share of High-Performance Console content is available on both Xbox and PlayStation consoles. By contrast, although Nintendo offers third-party content on the Switch, Nintendo’s main strategy centers on
c. Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles provide a technologically advanced gaming experience from a stationary endpoint. The Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles are plug-in devices that draw electrical power to support advanced computations and are connected to an external display like a television. In contrast, the Nintendo Switch is a portable battery-operated device with a built-in display screen, and it can optionally be connected to an external display. Nintendo’s Switch also has detachable controllers that can be used for motion-based game play that is not available on the Xbox or PlayStation consoles. Microsoft and Sony commonly benchmark against each other on
d. The PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, the companies’ latest flagship consoles, retail for $499.99. By contrast, the Nintendo Switch retails for $200 less at $299.99.
e. Since the 2000s, Microsoft and Sony have released new console generations largely contemporaneously—most recently in 2020. The prior generation (Generation 😎 Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were released in 2013, and the current generation (Generation 9) Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles were released in November 2020. By contrast, the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, nearly five years after the beginning of the eighth generation.

67. Microsoft’s own ordinary course documents regularly… Respondents conceded in a… regulatory filing that…
68. Due to their distinct offerings, Microsoft and Sony consoles appeal to different gaming audiences than the Nintendo Switch. While Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles offer more mature content for more serious gaming, Nintendo’s hardware and content tends to be used more for casual and family gaming.
69. Indeed, “dual console owners” are more likely to own one High-Performance Console and a Nintendo Switch than two High-Performance Consoles. NPD Group, a trusted source for video game industry data, shows that as of 2020, nearly 40 percent of PlayStation and Xbox owners also owned a Switch, while only … percent of PlayStation console owners owned an Xbox and only … percent of Xbox console owners own a PlayStation.
70. Other video gaming devices available today are not commercially reasonable alternatives to High-Performance Consoles and are therefore not included in the Relevant Market. These include gaming PCs, and mobile devices.
71. Gaming PCs are distinct from High-Performance Consoles due to differences in price, hardware, performance, and functionality (i.e., where and when a game can be played), among other factors. Gaming PCs are therefore not included in the Relevant Market. Mobile devices are distinct from High-Performance Consoles due to differences in complexity and quality of game performance, content offerings, monetization approach, gameplay and interface, and audience, among other factors. Microsoft recently confirmed this factual distinction in testimony during the trial of Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., 559 F.Supp.3d 898, 981 (N.D. Cal. 2021). Mobile gaming devices are therefore not included in the Relevant Market.
72. High-Performance Consoles are a relevant antitrust market. However, although the Nintendo Switch is highly differentiated from the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles, it shares many of the same characteristics that make High-Performance Consoles distinct from PCs, and mobile devices. Accordingly, the anticompetitive effects of the Proposed Acquisition alleged in this Complaint are also reasonably likely to occur in a broader market for gaming consoles that includes High-Performance Consoles and the highly differentiated Nintendo Switch.

 

Auch das ist grundsätzlich alles nachvollziehbar. Ob es auch gerichtsfest ist, wird die Zeit zeigen.

Bearbeitet 30. Dezember 2022 von Waltero_PES
redaktionell

[consoleplayer]

Bin gespannt, ob das auch zum Thema wird.